Horror Express (1972)

Director:

Eugenio Martín

Writers (WGA):

Arnaud d'Usseau (screenplay) and
Julian Zimet (screenplay) (originally as Julian Halevy)

Release Date:

January 1974 (USA)

Genre:

Horror | Sci-Fi

Tagline:

Can it be stopped?

Plot:

An English anthropologist has discovered a frozen monster in the frozen wastes of Manchuria which he believes may be the Missing Link...

Plot Keywords:

Monster | China | Train | Fossil | Anthropologist

Awards:

1 win

Cast

Christopher Lee	...	Prof. Sir Alexander Saxton
Peter Cushing	...	Dr. Wells
Alberto de Mendoza	...	Father Pujardov
Silvia Tortosa	...	Countess Irina Petrovski
Julio Peña	...	Inspector Mirov
Ángel del Pozo	...	Yevtushenko (as Angel del Pozo)
Telly Savalas	...	Captain Kazan
Helga Liné	...	Natasha
Alice Reinheart	...	Miss Jones (as Alice Reinhart)
José Jaspe	...	Conductor Konev (as Jose Jaspa)
George Rigaud	...	Count Marion Petrovski (as Jorge Rigaud)
Víctor Israel	...	Maletero - the Baggage Man
Faith Clift	...	American Passenger (as Faith Swift)
Juan Olaguivel	...	Creature (as Juan Olaguibel)
Barta Barri	...	First Telegraphist
Peter Beckman	...	Second Telegraphist
Hiroshi Kitatawa	...	Grashinski (as Hiroshi Kitazawa)
Vicente Roca	...	Station Master
José Canalejas	...	Russian Guard
José Marco	...	Vorkin
Allen Russell	...	Captain O'Hagan
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Fernando Villena	...	(uncredited)

Directed by
Eugenio Martín		(as Gene Martin)

Writing credits (WGA)
Arnaud d'Usseau		(screenplay) and
Julian Zimet		(screenplay) originally as Julian Halevy

Produced by
Bernard Gordon	....	producer
Gregorio Sacristán	....	associate producer

Original Music by
John Cacavas

Cinematography by
Alejandro Ulloa

Film Editing by
Robert C. Dearberg		(as Robert Dearberg)

Production Design by
Ramiro Gómez		(as Gomez Ramiro)

Set Decoration by
Ramiro Gómez

Makeup Department
Rafael Berraquero	....	assistant makeup artist
Fernando Florido	....	makeup artist
Romana González	....	assistant hair stylist
Julián Ruiz	....	makeup supervisor
María Nieves Ruiz	....	hair stylist

Production Management
José María Ramos	....	production supervisor

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Gil Carretero	....	assistant director
Vicente Escrivá hijo	....	second assistant director

Art Department
John Chisholm	....	props
Juan Gracia	....	property master
Julián Martín	....	painter (uncredited)

Sound Department
Manuel Ferreiro	....	boom operator (as Manuel Ferreiro Sierra)
Antonio Illán	....	sound supervisor
Erick Jolley	....	audio restoration
Luis López Díaz	....	sound recordist
Enrique Molinero	....	sound mixer

Special Effects by
Pablo Pérez	....	special effects

Visual Effects by
Brian Stevens	....	optical effects

Camera and Electrical Department
Teo Escamilla	....	camera operator
Simón López	....	still photographer (as Simon Lopez)
Luis Peña	....	focus puller (as Luis Pena)
Antonio Vega	....	assistant camera

Costume and Wardrobe Department
Andrés Fernández	....	wardrobe master (as Andres Fernandez)
Carmen Manzano	....	wardrobe mistress
Charles Simminger	....	wardrobe supervisor (as Charlie Simminger)

Editorial Department
Fernando Megino	....	assistant editor

Other crew
Katrina Bayonas	....	unit publicist
Rafael Perez Murcia	....	set assistant
José Luis Rubio	....	production assistant
Isabel Ruiz Capillas	....	script supervisor (as Maribel Ruiz-Capilla)

Production Companies

• Benmar Productions
• Granada Films

Distributors

• Astral Films (1974) (Canada) (theatrical)
• Scotia International (1974) (USA) (theatrical)
• Simitar Video (1997) (USA) (DVD)
• Simitar Video (1998) (USA) (DVD)
• Image Entertainment (2000) (USA) (DVD)
• Image Entertainment (2000) (USA) (VHS)
• Alpha Video Distributors (2002) (USA) (DVD)
• DMEG (2004) (Sweden) (VHS)
• Geneon Entertainment (2005) (USA) (DVD)
• Les Productions Jacques Roitfeld (1975) (France) (theatrical)
• BijouFlix Releasing (????) (USA) (VHS)
• Divisa Home Video (Spain) (DVD)
• European Video Corporation (EVC) (19??) (Netherlands) (VHS)
• GoodTimes Home Video (????) (USA) (VHS)
• Interglobal Home Video (????) (USA) (VHS)
• Media Home Entertainment (????) (USA) (VHS)
• Mill Creek Entertainment (2008) (USA) (DVD)
• New Star (????) (Greece) (VHS)
• Orlando Eastwood Productions (2012) (USA) (DVD)
• Prism Entertainment Corporation (????) (USA) (VHS)
• Severin Films (2010) (USA) (DVD)
• Severin Films (2011) (USA) (DVD) (Blu-Ray)
• Something Weird Video (SWV) (????) (USA) (VHS)
• Videocast (????) (Brazil) (VHS)
• Worldvision Enterprises (????) (USA) (VHS)

Other Companies

• Digital Post Services  sound restoration

Also Known As:

"Panic in the Trans-Siberian Train" - International (English title)

Runtime:

USA:90 min | USA:88 min | Spain:84 min

Country:

UK | Spain

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.66 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Finland:K-16 (1990) | France:U | Australia:M | Norway:15 | Spain:13 | UK:15 (video rating) (1994) | UK:X (original rating) | USA:R | Germany:16

Filming Locations:

Estudios Madrid 70, Daganzo, Madrid, Spain

Company:

Benmar Productions

Trivia:

Most of the film was shot without audio recording, the soundtracks and dialog were all added in post production. Stars Christopher Lee, Peter Cushing, and Telly Savalas provided their own voices for the film's English release.

Goofs:

Anachronisms: When the telegrapher announces what the government officials want done with the train and its on-board monster, the telegrapher says that the train is to be shunted to a dead-stop side track, further up the line. The interrogator asks, "Upon who's order?" and the telegrapher answers, "Moscow orders it." Until the Bolsheviks gained control of Russia, Petersburg was still the capital. Moscow was restored as capital in 1918.

Quotes:

Yevtushenko:I'm an engineer. A scientist. And this is ordinary chalk. How do you explain it not writing on that crate?
Professor Saxton:Hypnosis! Yoga! These mystics can be terribly convincing. They can even hypnotize themselves.

Movie Connections:

Featured in Hanging Perverts (2010)

Great Yarn

Judged on its own terms--as a 70s ghoul movie--this film should be rated a 10 out of 10! The plot is well-structured and tightly directed, and contains lots of great elements: 1906 setting, fancy trans-Siberian train ride, a ghoul, a mad monk, alien theorizing a-la-X-files, zombie soldiers stalking, Peter Cushing sawing the top of somebody's head off, a beautiful spy, eyeballs in a dish, a beautiful Polish Countess, and, believe it or not, it's all very cohesive! That's an admirable achievement

And the acting is great. The Monk is a scene-stealer. Christopher Lee gets to play a testy, priggish Edwardian scientist, and he does it very well. Cushing's character plays off Lee's stodginess as a laid-back deal-maker(yes, he actually smiles and cracks jokes)These two performances prove that Lee and Cushing were both gifted and versatile actors. Telly Savalas arrives for the final act, and proceeds to strut around and chew up the scenery on a level that would make Rod Steiger or Al Pacino jealous. This movie is one of the best of its type. Yes, in the first two minutes you can see signs of a limited budget, and yes, the microscope scene is ludicrous, but in a way, on the level of imagination and poetic license, it's pure genius.

Corrections: a certain "Dik" offered this information while commenting:

1. "An Italian film".(It's a Spanish/UK production) 2. "Lee plays an American Scientist"(the first thing you hear in the movie is Lee saying he is part of the ROYAL Archeological Society, and there's also a lengthy exchange about his character's Englishness: "Queen Victoria, crumpets, Shakespeare"...etc.(The commentator actually goes on about how Lee's portrayal of an American reflects how foreigners view Americans. Well...there's a little problem with that idea, isn't there?)